General Question

Do you do your kids' homework?

worked all day and have to find 12 empty toilet rolls by tomorrow? middle son has 32 algebra questions due by wednesday morning and it’s 8 o’clock in the evening? science project due by thursday? do you help or do it all?

I probably didn’t help enough. I hated those stupid projects in school and I might buy supplies but I was not going to do them again. I guess I was a bad mom. I have a friend whose daughters always win the history day fairs. I am sure it had a lot to do with Mom and Dad’s involvement. It’s one of those “mama guilt” things I live with.

working right now with two grammar school sons. we’re home today from work and school—something called pulaski day. working on two science projects—a volcano and enzymes. paper mache thing was fun, but, well, they get bored quick. building an enzyme as i write.

@charliecompany34 – call all your neighbors and every friend you know and beg. Besides, shouldn’t your kid have told you a bit sooner? Maybe it’s time for the “plan in advance, don’t leave it until the last minute” lesson.

Back when I knew more than my kids did, I tried to avoid doing any of the work.

Now, where I can I offer advice and there is no danger of my helping much.

However, back in the elementary school science fair, it was kind of frustrating seeing the winner win because they made a great model of a football stadium while the statistical analysis of ‘Home Team Advantage’ was done poorly.

My mom helped me with my work as much as she could. She jokes that I passed her in math when I was in the seventh grade.. so I was on my own there. Luckily, I have an older cousin who is (no joke) a rocket scientist. He gave me all the math help I needed.
My mom would help me with projects. She understood that it was more of a time issue than a learning issue. What am I going to learn by putting millions of sugar cubes with glue on them in the shape of a pyramid? Not much, besides the fact that I shouldn’t use too much glue.
If anything, when it came to projects, I had one family member who made it even harder for me to complete them. He ate my pyramid sugar cubes and my mission graham crackers. It makes for good memories though, and I still love him. He’s lucky.

well you shouldn’t let your kids wait til the last minute. kids will always wait til the last minute if you dont help them stay on top of their assignments. you should help them by cultivating good work habits. (that is more long term)

but short term help a little not a lot. don’t let them go out and play or maybe no desert until homework is done. in other words don’t give them rewards until they complete hw (positive reinforcement)

The best investment I ever made when my daughter was going to elementary school was buying a label maker (the kind that makes labels in various colors and sizes and styles). They’re not expensive. Whenever she had a project to do, I would make the headings with the label maker. Sometimes I’d let HER make a label or two. This way, the thing looked nice, I saved a LOT of time, and there was no way the teacher could tell who made the label. I shudder to think of how much time it would have taken my daughter to make the headings by hand.

The only way we help is making sure she stays on track. my son is too young for these things, right no! We will not do projects or homework for her. We check and double check, make suggestions or give a general idea where an error is, but we will not fix it for her. She’s decided that this is the best way for her, too. This way, she can truly say she did the work. So far, it’s worked. She has also gained the ability to budget her time better than I did, at her age!

Supplies, I swear, if you lived close, I’d open my supply closet to you. I have 18 empty tp rolls…with a kindergarten aged child, they prove useful. Highlighters, paper, glue sticks, binders…well, you get the point. All things that can be “re-purposed” are, there is little to no waste. I just hate buying new things all the time, it’s so wasteful!

I used to keep a small stationery store, too, with all the things cak has, and some empty milk cartons and gallon jugs, an old toothbrush or two, masking tape, brass brads, tempera paints, and paper tubes from wrapping paper.

The two things I was most likely to need on short notice were poster board (usually 18×22) and presentation folders. So I stocked up on both, swearing I would never be blind-sided at 9:30 on a Sunday night again. I also hung onto those gigantic plastic bags from department stores because, sure as anything, the day that the poster or project went to school, it would be raining.